Every week, Thursdays to be exact we purposely tune in to watch the degradation of family. We intentionally watch nation wide as families are destroyed. Let me be specific and get down to the nitty-gritty. I am talking about the widely popular ABC show, Scandal.

The whole “scandal” has been Olivia Pope sleeping with the president of the United States. For over 5 seasons they’ve been having an affair, she has been his mistress and he’s been committing adultery. Because yes, in case you’ve been under a rock since 2012, the president is a married man on the show as of season 5. In this most recent season that I last watched (season 5), he finally leaves his wife. Notice that I said leave, not divorce. She moves out of the white house and Olivia, his mistress/side chick moves in. So now, she enjoys the “perks” of being the “first lady.” Ironic huh? How could she ever be first when she started out as his mistress in the beginning?

Olivia then decides Fitz, the president isn’t even what she wants. Ha! Way to go. Destroy a family, way to be manipulative to get what you want and how you want it delivered to you on a silver platter then push it away and say “No thanks, I’ve changed my mind.” For 5 seasons we have tuned in and rooted for her! Yes, we rooted for the side chick. We snickered in satisfaction every episode as his wife was shut down. We clapped as Olivia won the man and saved the day at the end of every episode. We all sided with Olivia, called Mellie a bitch and hoped that “true love” would prevail. But did anyone stop to realize Mellie’s pain as a wife? As a mother? As a woman? Hold up now, she was far from innocent but still here it is being portrayed and filtered into our minds every week that the most powerful man in the united states could have a mistress and we are ok with it! We’ve accepted this as normal. We’ve said that this is okay and we get excited about it! We’ve glorified the role of the “side chick” and have made it okay to disrespect the institution of marriage, family and vows. We’ve made it okay to sleep around and to not believe in commitment and monogamy. We’ve made it okay to be selfish and destroy lives!

I will be the first to admit that I was once a huge fan of Scandal. But now it is sickening and sad. We are rooting for the very thing we say we don’t believe in! We tune in and say “Get yo man girl” or “Oooh, I wish he’d leave that bitch of a wife of his.” What volumes is this speaking to our children? What are we teaching and showing the youth? Are we not giving the thumbs up on single parent households, adultery, lying, multiple sexual partners AND problems and a host of other moral dilemmas? Or have we been so desensitized that what is blatantly wrong and disrespectful no longer bothers us?

By no means am I judging anyone that indulges in Scandal. I did say I was once a dedicated Gladiator myself but at some point we should all stop and evaluate what we are feeding our spirits and minds. We should be cognizant of the damage these type of shows have on families. We should be aware of what we are subliminally teaching our children.

As a wife, I’m an advocate for healthy marriages. As a mother, I’m an advocate for healthy families and as a woman I’m an advocate for self-respect, morality and virtuous values.